WeatherFanatics: Gonzalo Becomes a Hurricane as Fay Fades

Monday, October 13, 2014

Gonzalo Becomes a Hurricane as Fay Fades

By Alex Sosnowski, Expert Senior Meteorologist

October 13,2014; 9:12PM,EDT

Gonzalo strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane late Monday afternoon across the northern Leeward Islands.
Heavy rain and locally damaging winds blasted the northern Leeward Islands Monday and Gonzalo will strengthen further as it tracks toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Monday night.
Gonzalo will bring many dangers with it as it tracks westward.
"Life-threatening flash floods, damaging winds and mudslides will threaten the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico Monday night into early Tuesday morning," said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Andy Mussoline.

Residents and travelers should prepare for prolonged power outages and cutoff of basic services in the region and make final preparations as quickly as possible.
A cold front will eventually steer Gonzalo on a more northerly path by midweek. Folks in Bermuda should be on alert once again as the northerly turn will take Gonzalo toward them late this week or weekend, perhaps as a hurricane.
Torrential rain and damaging winds recently battered Bermuda as then Tropical Storm Fay passed nearby late Saturday night and Sunday morning. A peak wind gust to 82 mph was measured.
Fay lost all tropical characteristics late Monday afternoon across the open waters of the northern Atlantic.

During October, on average, areas most likely for tropical development in the Atlantic Basin tend to shift closer to the nearshore waters of North and Central America.
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On this animated GIF, Gonzalo can be seen approaching Puerto Rico.(NOAA/Satellite)
The Atlantic is behind the curve for the average number of named tropical systems. After about a three week lull, Fay and Gonzalo recently brought the number of named storms to seven. On average, there are nine named systems over the Atlantic by the middle of October.
With 18 named systems this season, the eastern Pacific is running ahead of the average. By the middle of October, the average number of named systems is 15.
Content contributed by Andy Mussoline and Jordan Root, AccuWeather.com Meteorologists

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